Qualcomm Brings in $5.6B in Revenue for Q2 Fiscal 2016

It’s officially earnings season. First on the docket is Qualcomm who just reported their earnings for the first calendar quarter of the year, but it’s the company’s second quarter of the fiscal year. These numbers are for the three month period ending on March 31st, 2016. Qualcomm brought in revenues of $5.6 billion for the quarter, that’s down from $5.8 billion in Q1 and down $6.9 billion from this same period, a year ago. Operating income came to $1.4 billion, that’s also down from $1.7 billion last quarter, but it’s an increase from $1.3 billion a year ago. Net income sat at $1.2 billion, diluted earnings per share at $0.78 and operating cash flow at $0.7 billion.

In the quarter, Qualcomm shipped 189 million chips, that’s down both from last quarter where they shipped 242 million and 233 million a year ago. Reported device sales are $70.1 billion, with the approximate reported 3G/4G device shipments between 335 and 339 million. Up from last quarter where they reported 307 million to 311 million, but down from a year ago where they reported 384 to 388 million.

Qualcomm’s CEO, Steve Mollenkopf stated that the company’s “fiscal second quarter results were driven by stronger than expected performance across our chipset and licensing businesses. We are pleased with our continued progress in the licensing business, including the recent conclusion of new license agreements in China and the resolution of our dispute with LG Electronics.” Mollenkopf also mentioned how the company is “continuing to build momentum into the second half of our fiscal 2016 with traction for our Snapdragon processors in the premium and high tiers and strong execution of our strategic realignment plan.”

It’s a bit surprising to see the shipment of MSM chips decrease compared to the previous quarter, considering their flagship Snapdragon 820 processor is now making its way into smartphones. However, the majority of those smartphones were not made available during the quarter. With only the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge being available for just a few weeks in March – and the LG G5 coming in April and the HTC 10 coming in May. Qualcomm seems to be rebounding from the disastrous 2015 that they had last year, even though their numbers are lower than they were this time last year. It definitely helps them to have licensing agreements set for China, which is the largest mobile market right now.